Great Britain's men and women competed at the London 2012 Olympics as the host nation but neither team took part at Rio 2016.

This was due to the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations being unable to come to an agreement.

World governing body FIFA had said that it would block an entry without the support of every British association.

Some are hesitant to compete in Olympic football tournaments together over fears that FIFA could then force the home nations to compete together permanently,

Jonathan Ford, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive, told BBC Sport Wales that the FAW would not want to join together permanently but supported the British women's team arrangement as there were some advantages.

"Politically we have always said it has been a very difficult one for us because we like playing as Wales," Ford said.

"The Welsh fans like the Welsh team and we don't want to ever give that up.

"Of course, there is an element of politics at play here, but we understand, especially for the women's game, there is some benefit in our women having some competition experience and the Olympics provides that.

"Politically we are not going to align ourselves with it, but we are not going to stop our players."

The agreement only concerns the women's team.

England, who are ranked as third in the world, are the nominated country to attempt to qualify for Tokyo 2020.

They will need to be one of the top three European nations at the 2019 Women's World Cup in France to secure their Olympic place.

The English also qualified for Rio 2016 after coming third at the 2015 World Cup in Canada, but their place was not taken.